


Sleepless Nights

by Overstressed_Lesbian



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Irondad, Nightmares, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, One Shot, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Scared Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 10:39:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overstressed_Lesbian/pseuds/Overstressed_Lesbian
Summary: ENDGAME SPOILERSNOT ENDGAME COMPLIANTA year after the events of Endgame, Peter and Tony are having a rough time adjusting. Peter has a nightmare and just needs Tony to reassure him that everything's going to be okay. And maybe, it will be.





	Sleepless Nights

The people affected by the snap may have been returned, but that didn’t mean everything was okay again. The effects still lingered in the minds of both people who disappeared, and people who didn’t. Five years had still passed, and people were trying to find a way to cope. Those who were snapped struggled to reintegrate into society. The world had moved on around them while they stood still. Those who lived through Thanos struggled to let the others back into their lives. They had spent the last few years trying to cope with the loss and move on the which brought on a new wave of guilt.

But slowly, the world was beginning to heal.

Not left out of all of this, was 16-year-old Peter Parker. A year after coming back to join the fight against Thanos and 6 years after dying in space, he still wasn’t healed. Not that anyone expected him to be. The kid had been through hell. Tony just wished he could do something to ease the pain.

He and the kid were trying to get through the aftermath together. After seeing Peter alive again and then nearly dying on him, the two had a bit of a separation problem.

When Tony woke up in the hospital, he was surprised. Honestly, he hadn’t expected to live through all of that. He turned his head to see Pepper sleeping in the chair beside him. Next to her, with his head on her shoulder, was Peter. Morgan slept curled up in his lap. Tony’s heart swelled seeing his family like this. It didn’t matter what happened next, as long as these people were by his side.

The next year saw many ups and downs for the two Avengers. Learning to cope with life after was hard. Tony had to learn to cope with his multiple injuries, including losing his arm, and Peter had to deal with the fact that the world had moved on without him.

School was especially rough at first. Half of his class had already graduated and moved onto college, while the others, himself, MJ, and Ned included, were going back to high school. They were with an entirely new class and with everything else being so new, Peter could have used some familiarity.

Which is why, on this Friday night, he was asleep at Tony’s Manhattan Tower. Tony had moved back to the city after the events with Thanos. This was, quite honestly, his home. He had only left in the first place because it was too painful, but now, it was full of possibilities. He and the others still went to the lake house on occasion, but the majority of time was spent here.

Peter was a frequent visitor, of course. Then again, he didn’t really count as a visitor anymore. He had his own bedroom and spent almost as much time here as he did at his apartment with May. The tower was really his second home.

It was around 3 AM, everything was seemingly perfect and quiet. After a loud and happy family dinner, Tony, Pepper, Peter, and Morgan sat down to watch the latest Disney release. Morgan went to bed at 8 and Peter and Tony watched another movie before turning in for the night as well.

It was after everyone fell asleep that the problems began.

Peter tossed back and forth as his mind tortured him with images, both real and fictional.

_Peter clung to his mentor. He could feel his body start to disintegrate. He knew he was dying._

_“Please, Mr. Stark, I don’t want to go,” He still had so much he wanted to do. He was only sixteen. He still wanted to graduate high school and go to college. And what about May? He couldn’t leave her behind. They were all each other had. He had sworn to her after she found out about Spiderman that he would always come back to her. He couldn’t die on some random planet in space. He held on tighter to Tony._

_Dream Tony pried Peter’s arms from around him, “Not much I can do kid.” He took a step back._

_Peter crawled forward, reaching for Tony again, “Please, I don’t want to go!” He was sobbing now. Why wasn’t Tony doing anything? He was Iron Man, if anyone could help, it was him. Tony was always there to help him._

_“A real Avenger wouldn’t need saving,” Dream Tony told him, before turning his back and walking away._

_Peter felt the rest of his body fall away to pieces as he stared at the back of his hero._

The dream shifted.

_This time Peter was back on Earth. At least he thought it was Earth, he couldn’t really be sure. Dr. Strange had woken him up and told him the others needed his help, and he wasn’t about to fail his mentor for a second time._

_Most of the fight was a blur for him. He was so busy running and trying not to get hit, he didn’t really have a chance to process what was going on._

_What he did manage to see was Tony snatch the infinity stones off of the gauntlet. He froze. He watched as they cemented themselves into the Iron Man armor. He was too far away to hear what he was saying but he saw Tony snap his fingers._

_Everything else fell away at that moment. He saw Tony’s body seize up as he fell to the ground and that’s what got Peter moving in that moment. Nothing else mattered except getting to Tony._

_He got there only seconds after Tony hit the ground and leaned over his mentor. The entire right side of his body was burned, and he wasn’t moving. Peter vaguely noticed others approaching but ignored them._

_“Mr. Stark,” He reached his hand out to touch him, but with all of the injuries, was too afraid of hurting him so his hand just hovered nervously._

_Tony rolled his head over to look at Peter and spoke, “You could have stopped this kid,” he coughed out._

_“No, Mr. Stark, please, tell me how to fix this,” Peter pleaded. He was aware he was crying, and other people were watching but he didn’t care. He needed to fix this. He couldn’t lose another parent figure. Not again…_

_Tony didn’t answer. Peter watched as his face went slack and the recognition faded from his eyes. It only took a few seconds before the arc reactor on his chest stuttered out and Peter was face to face with another person in his life he had let die._

“Pete, come on kid, please wake up.” Peter bolted upright, still sobbing. The sight of Tony dying still fresh in his mind as he quickly scanned the room.

The first thing he noticed was that he was in his bed at Tony’s house, not outside in a pile of wreckage. Then he saw Pepper standing in the doorway, light pouring into the room around her. She looked tired and disheveled in a way that she rarely ever did, but Peter could also see the obvious concern present on her face. Behind her, the small figure of Morgan Stark hid behind her mother’s legs, looking scared.

“Hey, hey kid it’s me. Same side, remember,” Peter hadn’t realized he was waving his arms around, but now he caught sight of familiar hands gripping his wrists. Slowly, his eyes made their way up from the hands to the face of the person he just watched die. He choked back a sob again.

“T-Tony,” He managed to say. He hadn’t realized how much he was shaking until now.

“Hey kiddo, you with me now?” His face was filled with so much emotion, so much life. A sharp contrast to the image of a few minutes ago. It didn’t feel real. He looked down at the arc reactor glowing a soft blue against his mentor’s chest.

“You’re okay?” Peter asked, his eyes not leaving the reactor, worried that it would go out while he wasn’t paying attention.

“Yeah, I’m good kid. We’re both okay. All of that is over now. We both made it out,” the concern in his voice made Peter cry again and he finally took his eyes off the arc reactor to fling himself into Tony’s arms. Tony pulled him close and just held him as his body shook with sobs.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” He kept repeating into Tony’s shoulder. The mechanic just held him and spoke in a quiet voice, “we’re both okay, everyone’s okay.”

After a few minutes, Peter finally quieted down. His sobs subsided into small hiccups and his breathing began to even out. “I’m sorry,” he said again quietly.

Tony pulled back and Peter was worried for a second that he was mad before he saw the love and concern held within his eyes.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Why do you keep saying that?” The confusion in his voice was evident and Peter realized that he hadn’t explained his dream, and Tony had no idea what was freaking him out so much.

“I-I should have b-been stronger. Better. I should have been a b-better Avenger. On Titan and on Earth with Thanos. I should have done more,” Peter choked out, his voice shaking as the memories of his dream rushed back to him.

Tony sighed and pulled Peter back into his arms, “That’s not true. You did amazing kid, no one could have expected more from you. We both made it out and you helped save a lot of lives.”

Peter pulled back and focused on the prosthetic arm affixed to Tony’s right shoulder and the burns still covering the right side of his face, “I should have done more…” He trailed off.

Tony shook his head, “kid look at me.” Peter continued to stare at the prosthetic arm. Tony used the arm to lift the kid’s chin to look him in the eyes, “This is not your fault. You did everything you could, and you did great. I am so proud of you.”

Peter searched Tony’s eyes for any sign of a lie. When he couldn’t find one, he folded himself back into his mentor’s arms and allowed himself to cry once again, this time not out of fear, but out of relief.

He had no idea how long he stayed like that, but eventually, he leaned back and took a deep breath, the night’s dream fading away.

Tony looked at him, “you good?”

Peter nodded, feeling a lot more relaxed.

Tony nodded, “good. Because I think Morgan wants to check up on you too.”

That’s when Peter noticed that Pepper had disappeared from the doorway. She probably took Morgan back to bed at some point.

“You want to go reassure her that her big brother’s going to be okay?” Tony asked with a smile on his face, knowing how happy it made Peter to refer to him as her big brother.

Peter nodded and stood up from the bed. He made his way down the hall to Morgan’s room.

Morgan sat in her bed, Pepper sitting next to her. When she saw Peter, she sat up more. Peter sat down on the bed next to her, Tony stood in the doorway.

“Hey Morgan,” Peter started, “sorry I woke you up. I had a bad dream.” He did his best to explain.

“Are you okay now?” she asked in a quiet voice. It melted Peter’s heart a little bit to hear the concern in her voice.

“Yeah, I’m okay now. I was just a little scared for a while,” he reassured her.

She crawled into his lap and wrapped her small arms around his neck in a hug, holding tight, “It’s okay. I’ll protect you.” Peter held her back and laughed. Tears threatened to fall again for what felt like the hundredth time that night. But sitting here, with a six-year-old in his lap and his mentor by the door, he felt the safest that he had in months.

Tony watched his family. It had been a rough year, and they still had a lot more of that to come. He won’t deny that they still felt pretty broken, but moments like this reminded him that they would be okay. It would take a while, but they would get there. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry everyone if this doesn't make a lot of sense. I blame the fact that I'm sick and high on cold medicine at the moment. Want to rant about Endgame or talk about spiderman? Follow me on Tumblr overstressedlesbian.tumblr.com


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